Overcoming Mother Nature
The very mild winter this year has thus far thwarted the plans of the ski resorts in the outskirts of Moscow, as there has been virtually no snow, and although it is possible to make it artificially, the weather has been too warm. Accordingly, the owners of the slopes are losing money, as ski lovers have set off to Europe, where the snow also covers less than half of the trails. Consequently, looking ahead to a snow-free future, market players are building indoor skiing complexes.
Industrial Trails
In Europe, downhill skiing resorts are built at the locations with rich varying terrain and snow that remains on the slopes practically year-round. However, in Russia, specifically in the Moscow region, new downhill skiing complexes have been introduced to the market. Built on virtually level ground but made possible through the use of small hills, ravines and snow-making equipment, these resorts are becoming popular among skiers.
Market experts believe it is possible that the majority of the trails on the outskirts of Moscow are becoming popular on account of the fact that Russians have historically skied close to home. During the Soviet times, traveling to downhill ski resorts was a major and rare event for the locals. Therefore, small trails started to appear equipped with ski lifts, small cafes and infrastructure services provided by the local industrial providers.
However, in the 1990s, people who were well-off started going abroad to ski, as it was only recently that modern downhill ski resorts, equipped with snow-making systems, lifts and modern facilities, started to appear in Russia.
In the Moscow Region today, there are dozens of downhill skiing trails of various levels in operation. However, only four of them meet European standards for downhill skiing resorts. They are the Tyagachevsky, Yakhroma, Volen and Sarochany resorts. “All the more or less serious trails on the outskirts of Moscow are concentrated in the Dmitrovsky district,” explains Boris Petrov, director of the Russian Center for the Assembly of Downhill Skiing. “This is because there is varying terrain here.” According to specialists’ evaluation, the downhill skiing market in the Moscow region is a $65-million business.
Slushy Slopes
The Sarochany downhill sport, health and tourist complex is located 46 km to the north of the MKAD within the Klinsko-Dmitrovsky ridge. The complex has eight trails from 500-800 meters in length and various elevations up to 90 meters. The Volen sports park is located on the southern Yakhromy outskirts and has 13 illuminated trails of various elevations up to 70 meters and 450 meters in length. The Leonid Tyagachev downhill skiing club is located 40 km from Moscow along Dmitrovskoe Shosse in the Shukolovo village (Turist station) area. Yakhroma park is located 46 km from the MKAD near Stepanovo village and has 10 trails totaling 3.5 km in length.
The slopes of these complexes are illuminated for night skiing and have ski lifts. There is also a snow-making system and the slopes are groomed with snowcats. There are hotels everywhere and numerous areas of entertainment.
Moreover, the owners of large downhill skiing resorts are gradually getting rid of the influence of outdoor factors, such as the lack of snow and the approach of summer. Indeed, now they have become year-round rest and relaxation parks and operate in the summertime as well. The issue of seasonality is unique for Russia, inasmuch as foreign downhill skiing complexes are built in the mountains and operate year-round, as the snow there does not melt in the summer. Accordingly, the resorts on the outskirts of Moscow had to resolve the issue of summer programs by using bicycles, rollerblades, tourism, football, tennis, beaches, artificial skiing and others.
Furthermore, there are a number of downhill trails operating in the capital itself, such as at Vorobyovy Hills, where there is a downhill skiing slope up to 240 meters in length and various elevations from 45-50 meters built parallel to a cable lift. The trail is lit and has a snow-making system and is groomed by snowcats. There are short sport trails from 140-160 meters in length here for children, with various elevations up to 30 meters. These are very steep and rough trails with limited room at the bottom.
Another ski area in the capital, Krylatskie Hills, has several illuminated trails of various skill levels and lengths from 200-350 meters with elevations of 40-60 meters. There also is Kant, which has packed trails on a large ravine of a former dump. The dump has been redesigned, with 11 trails of varying lengths from 200-350 meters, elevations around 53 meters and even a beginners’ trail. In addition to the packed downhill slopes for experienced skiers, there are also specially built slopes for beginners and a half-pipe. The well-prepared trails are first and foremost a result of the resort having its own snowcats and artificial snow-making machines. In the evenings, the trails are lit by floodlights and there is also a unique pro-shop for the repair of downhill skiing equipment and snowboards. Moreover, there is an equipment store and tourist agency.
Uzkoe is located on the outskirts of Bittsevsky Park in the southwest of the city. The slopes are 150-180 meters in length with various elevations up to 40 meters and are serviced by two t-bar lifts. At Kolomensky the slopes are up to 200 meters in length with various elevations up to 35-40 meters and are serviced by two t-bar lifts which operate only during the weekends.
The Zvezdochka downhill skiing complex in Orekhovo is comprised of three downhill trails of up to 200 meters in length and various elevations up to 40 meters. The slopes are serviced by four t-bar lifts. In Novo-Peredelkino, there are two downhill trails of 170 meters in length with various elevations of 50 meters. Two t-bar lifts and one cable lift service the slopes, and there are trails for snowboarding and a half-pipe. There is also a snow-making system.
According to market players, the supply for this market still significantly lags behind the demand. “If 10 more downhill ski resorts are built, this will still be too few,” believes Igor Dudko, general director at Ski Expert. “The crowds are huge, especially during the weekends and holidays. Given that we can accommodate up to 5,600 people at Sarochany, 5,000 people stay with us daily.” Volen can host up to 4,000 skiers, while Tyagachevsky can permit 3,500 visitors and Yakhroma can entertain 3,000 fun-seekers. The Ruzsky Switzerland resort under construction outside Ruza is slated to have a capacity of 11,000 people per day. Dudko is certain that it too will be full.
Ruzsky a la Swiss
According to Vasily Boiko, chairman of the board of directors at Vash Finansovy Popechitel, the overall area where the Panovo downhill skiing complex is being built comprises 700 ha. The complex will have 26 downhill slopes with trails of varying levels of difficulty and of lengths up to 1.2 km (including training slopes and slopes for tubing and snowboarding). A six-seat lift with special glass to protect against the wind will be installed. Moreover, there will be two three-star hotels, 300 guest houses, around 700 full-time cottages, a school, kindergarten, restaurants and supermarkets, children’s and sports areas, an equestrian complex, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, a golf course, an indoor water park and others.
“However, there are not any more plots on the outskirts of Moscow where the geography would be appropriate to build a packed downhill skiing resort of this level,” explains Boiko. “As part of the construction of Panovo, we are packing the highest artificial downhill skiing hill in the world, with various elevations up to 150 meters, with the packed area being around 60 meters.” The volume of the packed earth at Panovo will be 23 million cubic meters. Investment in the first phase will be $100 million. The developer plans to complete construction in three to four years, with an eight-year recoupment period from the start of construction.
“Our trails could certainly compete with those popular resorts abroad,” notes Boiko. “This is because our downhill skiing season usually begins at the end of November and ends in March, which is the case with most resorts in the Alps. Indeed, it is possible to maintain a downhill trail in working condition for a rather long period if there is an artificial snow-making machine and attending equipment.”
At the same time, weather factors could be rather unpredictable, which renders snow-making equipment obsolete. Indeed, to maintain a cover of artificial snow, the temperature must be at least minus three degrees Celsius. If the temperature is above zero, which has been the case for over a month now in the Moscow region, winter entertainment parks remain out of commission and suffer significant losses.
Under a Dome
To fully protect a facility from the influence of unpredictable outside factors, the complex must be built in an artificial environment. As such, the country’s first indoor downhill skiing complex, Snow Dome, is under construction three kilometers from Moscow in the Pavshinsky Basin district. As reported by SU-155, a co-investor in the project, the complex will have an all-season downhill skiing trail with a width of more than 60 meters and a length of 400 meters. The premise’s height from the snow to the roof will exceed 12 meters and the top spot of the hill, according to project documentation, will top off at 97 meters. The Regional Finance and Construction Company is an equal partner in the project with SU-155. The investment is $100 million.
The project completion was announced for the end of December 2006; however, construction has been halted recently on account of the need to complete the construction on houses in the region. As a result, “large-scale social goals for the early delivery of houses in Moscow for soldiers and the completion of houses for other companies on Schyolkovskoe Shosse and Botanicheskaya St., as well as in Scherbink on the outskirts of Moscow, are hindering the completion of the winter resort by Moscow builders,” reports SU-155. The builders have taken on the responsibility of finishing the facilities of Stroiindustria in Moscow and in Stroimetresurs in the Moscow Region. Therefore, in October 2007, Snow Dome should begin operations.
Playing Mother Nature Indoors
The most significant disadvantage of an indoor complex is the limited trails; in Snow Dome, for example, there is only one trail. Moreover, there are also limits to the width, length and the number of skiers (around 1,200 people per day). Another large indoor skiing facility will be the indoor Freestyle Park entertainment complex, which will combine a downhill skiing slope, a snow entertainment area and a wide selection of entertainment for a theme park. Today there are about 48 indoor downhill skiing centers in the world, while another 20 will open in the near future. Of course there are many theme parks, such as Disney and Universal, but they are all set outside. Accordingly, the project designers are certain that the specifics of the climate and the market in Russia will dictate the necessity of having to join all of the entertainment under one roof.
The project developers have thought to embody the concept of winter and summer in the Freestyle Park so that visitors to the complex will be able to experience winter and summer simultaneously. They will be able to go skiing, ice skating, snowboarding, as well as go swimming in the water park. Accordingly, the central mall will comprise two main areas, winter and summer, which will be divided by a glass partition allowing visitors to see what is happening on the other side.
“The uniqueness of the project is that the complex will have two trails: a red and black one for expert skiers and a blue one for the less experienced skiers,” explains Alla Feoktistova, the lead architect of projects in the architecture department at ABD Architects. “The length of the trail will be longer for a more advanced configuration.” The length of the basic trail is 600 meters, the width is 60-70 meters and there is a various elevation of 90 meters. In addition to the downhill skiing trail, other entertainment components are planned for the complex, such as bowling, video games, a food court, skating, a water park, shopping mall, a multiplex and a hotel with rooms opening up onto the winter area.
“In terms of design, this is a very complicated and unique project,” says Feoktistova. “We have yet to experience the full difficulties, but we foresee having to resolve a number of issues.” Firstly, a very complicated snow-making system must be designed and completed. Moreover, it is technologically difficult to create an atmosphere where snow will maintain its properties and the visitors will be comfortable in winter entertainment. “As far as I know, several indoor hill projects abroad have not been successful namely owing to the developers’ inability to overcome the technological complications. Indeed, the risks are great, but the fully successful hill projects in Dubai and London demonstrate that Freestyle Park could be completed,” believes Feoktistova.
The overall area of the project will be 180,000 sqm. According to Alexander Timofeev, general director at MT Development, the complex concept was designed by his company, the project’s developer, with the help of the architect David Higgins, Acer Snowmec Consultants Limited (UK), Unlimited Snow Indoor by (NL) and Sterling Leisure Limited (UK). Investment to complete the project will be $150 million, and the developer is counting on a recoupment period of six years.
Outlook
According to market specialists, despite plans to create several new downhill skiing projects in the near future, demand will continue to exceed supply. Moreover, they are convinced that the weather in upcoming years will continue to show a complete deviation from the calendar and disappoint lovers of downhill skiing. Furthermore, developers ready to invest funds in the construction of indoor trails are waiting to see what results the Snow Dome and Freestyle Park projects will produce. In the event that the complexes have successful launches, analysts believe there could be a significant pick-up action on the part of developers in this segment.